Coach Interview – John Ondriezek – Head Football Coach, Mariner High School

I have had the opportunity to work with John Ondriezek, head football coach of the Mariner High School Marauders, for over twenty-five years, and HS Cover2 has chosen to begin our coaching profiles with him. He will be, in essence, a guinea pig, or, better yet, a sounding board.

Besides knowing John socially and working with him, I have been a long-time admirer. He works in a school that has a unique set of problems and these problems do affect the football program. The transient (those students who come and go in the middle of the year) population is the highest in Wesco. The free and reduced lunch rate, which is an indicator of the poverty level, is one of the highest in the Puget Sound area. A committed teaching staff, however, has produced Hi-Q championship teams, award-winning debate teams, a renowned music program, and every year sends dozens, even hundreds of competitive young men and women into colleges, trade schools, the military and into the work force. John is a vital component of that dedicated staff. His Weight-training and his Health classes mirror the man,a man who has dedicated himself to showing kids the results of proper diet, hard work, exercise, and intellectual curiosity. His football also mirrors the man:

Coach John Ondreizek

HS Cover2: Where were you born?John O: In Culver, PA, a small coal-mining town of about a thousand people close to Pittsburgh. The town produced Ron Kolstenik of Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers. I grew up in a blue-collar town, and probably still have some of the blue-collar values of that area.

HS Cover2: You also grew up in Florida. Where in Florida, and when did you move there?John O: St. Petersburg, when I was thirteen.

HS Cover2: Why did you move?
John O: The steel mills shut down, and my dad along with a lot of people found themselves without a job.

HS Cover2: Was it difficult leaving your home town?
John O: Yeah, at first, but this was Florida! It was a new adventure, and it was 40 degrees when we left PA and 82 in Florida. I adjusted fairly quickly.

HS Cover2: When did you start playing football?
John O: In the sixth grade in St. Petersburg. Pop Warner football. I played Pop Warner through the seventh and eighth grades.

HS Cover2: In these economic times, how do you see the future of middle school football in our district?
John O: The rich get richer. Many of our families are struggling now. How would they be able to accept the added pressure of paying for their kids’ equipment as well as insurance and shoes?
Losing middle school football would be a devastating blow to us.

HS Cover2: Were you ever injured in football?
John O: I hurt my knee in practice during my junior year. The knee was always sore during my senior year, but I just accepted it as part of football. It wasn’t until I was thirty-two, that I became aware of the extent of the injury. When I had my knee operated on, they discovered that I had no posterior ligament. My knee had been like that for fifteen years.

HS Cover2: How did you compensate?
John O: Just worked on strengthening the muscles and tendons surrounding the knee, I guess.

HS Cover2: Have you been involved in other sports?
John O: I wrestled in high school and was the district and regional champ. Wrestling had just gotten started in that area so that title wasn’t that big of a deal.

HS Cover2: How long have you been coaching?
John O: In 1974 I became the head coach at Sarasota Riverview High School and stayed there for seven years. We were undefeated in dual meets for two years and then we went 14-1. I started coaching at Mariner in ’81 and have coached there for 28 years, the last fifteen years as the head coach. I guess that I am the senior head coach in Wesco.

HS Cover2: What has been the biggest change in coaching in those 28 years?
John O: The time commitment. Kids are so specialized in their sports now, that you have to stay involved with them year ’round.

HS Cover2: How have kids changed over the years?
John O: It says a great deal about athletics that they may be the only place in our society that traditional values are taught. Kids remained the same throughout the years. Athletes are, for the most part responsible, dedicated, and hard-working with integrity thrown in.

HS Cover2: How about nutrition?
John O: Nutrition is the key to kids reaching their athletic potential. When I was a kid we had a home-cooked meal every night. Parents have to be involved in this. Our fast-paced life has led to Fast-food Nation.

HS Cover2: I know that you read a lot, so what are your interests outside of football.
John O: Travel within the U.S. Like William Least Heat Moon’s “Blue Highways,” I want to experience the different cultures within our own country.

HS Cover2: What offensive formation do you favor?
John O: I’ve run most of them: Run and Shoot, Wing-T, the I, the pro I. If I had the right personnel, I would run the Run and Shoot, but whichever formation I run I try to stay with a basic philosophy.

HS Cover2: Who is the best player you have ever coached considering you have sent a few to the NFL?
John O: Pound for pound, it has to be Lamont Brightful. He was an NFL kick returner at 170 pounds. He was just a driven person, and you could see that in the ninth grade. He could play any position on the field. He had great integrity, great values.